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Documentation Area

Document Path: /doc/monsters/spectre

Name:
	Spectre  (Undead Creature)

Stats:
	No. Appearing  : 1-6
	Climate/Terrain: Desolate dungeons and ruins
	Frequency      : Rare
	Organization   : Solitary
	Activity Cycle : Darkness and night
	Diet           : Nil

Description:
	Spectres are powerful undead that haunt the most desolate and deserted
	of places. They hate all life and light. Spectres appear as semitrans-
	parent beings and are more often mistaken for haunts or ghosts. Unlike
	most undead, spectres retain the semblance and manner of dress of their
	former life and can be recognized by old friends or through aintings of
	the persons they used to be.

Combat:
	Spectres can only attacked with magical weapons. Daylight makes spec-
	tres powerless. The chilling touch of a spectre inflices 1-8 points of
	damage and drains two life energy levels from the victim. Any being to-
	tally drained of life energy by a spectre becomes a full-strength spec-
	tre under the control of the spectre which drained him. The victim lo-
	ses all control of his personality and may become more or less power-
	ful then before, depending on his level and class before becoming a
	spectre.

	Spectres are immune to all sleep, charm, hold, and cold-based spells,
	as well as poisons and paralyzations attacks. Holy water inflicts 2-8
	points of damage when it strikes a spectre. The water can be splashed
	on a spectre successfully. A raise dead spell apparently reverses the
	undead status, destroying the spectre immediately.

Habitat/Society:
	Most spectres are solitary, but some enclaves exist where a particu-
	larly powerful or lucky spectre has managed to drain mortals of life.
	This lead spectre as the master spectre (always with the maximum hit
	points), while the others are known collectively as the followers. In
	this arrangement, the master spectre almost never engages enemies per-
	sonally, but instead sends his minions for the kill. Mortals drained of
	life by follower spectres are subservient to the master spectre, not
	the followers. Note that if the master spectre is slain, all followers
	become independent and can travel anywhere they wish in hopes of beco-
	ming a master spectre themselves. Once a character becomes a spectre,
	recovery is nearly impossible, requring a special quest.

	Spectres hate light and all life, as both reminded them of their undead
	existence. They are therefore encountered only in places of extreme
	darkness and desolation, like long-abandoned ruins, dungeons, and sub-
	terranean sewers.

	Contrary to popular mythology, spectres remain highly intelligent and
	generally rational after the transformation to undeath. Life makes them
	lament their unlife, and they bear a strong hatred for all those lucky
	enough to live and truly die. Spectres have enough cunning to plan
	their attacks, and rival vampires in their skill at remaining hidden
	from the general populace.

Ecology:
	No one knows who the first spectre was or how it came to be; the few
	facts detailed above are all that is know with any degree of certainty.